Here’s an Opportunity for San Mateo County Residents to Voice an Opinion on the Call for a State Constitutional Convention
As California’s budget crisis deepens, a new on-line forum offers San Mateo County residents the opportunity to voice their opinion about a proposal to convene a constitutional convention to overhaul state government.
The new on-line service, called SMC Forum, includes information about California’s government and background on the call for constitutional convention. Backers of the proposal are convinced California government needs fixing to improve taxpayer accountability and to avoid crisis-driven decision-making.
The online forum can be found at www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/smcforum or by visiting the County’s Internet home page, www.co.sanmateo.ca.us , and looking under the “News” tab.
“We need to fundamentally change how government works in California, and a constitutional convention may be the best opportunity for serious reform,” Supervisor Richard S. Gordon said. “But a convention without innovative, concrete ideas for reform will get us nowhere, which is why we launched this SMC Forum – to gather feedback from our community. We look forward to hearing from you.”
The San Francisco-based Bay Area Council with other concerned organizations recently convened a Constitutional Convention Summit in Sacramento. The event brought together 400 participants from local governments, business, policy and advocacy organizations and interest groups to discuss state government reforms.
“The SMC Forum is another example of how San Mateo County government is reaching out on different levels to foster civic engagement. It’s our hope that this new interactive forum will make it more convenient than ever for people to express their opinions on a wide variety of local topics,” Board of Supervisors President Mark Church said.
“The first issue highlighted will be a discussion on changing the California Constitution. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this new digital doorway into accessing county government. It’s also a great opportunity to partner with the non-partisan company Peak Democracy, which is offering this service as a pilot program at no cost to the county,” Church said.
By visiting SMC Forum, users can watch a short video about the proposed constitutional convention and read news articles. They can also take a simple survey or participate in a more detailed discussion.
Future SMC Forum topics may include citizen comments on solutions to the County’s structural budget deficit, the proposed high-speed rail line along the Peninsula and ways to improve access to cost-effective health care for the uninsured.
By launching SMC Forum, San Mateo County is the first county and one of five California local governments to pilot this civic engagement tool. Through the County’s membership with the Alliance for Innovation, Peak Democracy initiated this pilot project in San Mateo County and in four other states. Peak Democracy is a non-partisan company based in Northern California whose mission is to broaden civic engagement and build public trust in government.
If you interested in learning more about this, here are three websites to go to for more details; Repair California, Bay Area Council and California Foward. It’s up to all of us to do something about the crisis taking place in Sacramento. You can’t just sit there and say it’s not your problem, because it is. Your home values, your job security, the education offered here, the quality of roads, quality of life and our future as a state rely on you taking a part in this process. Please act on it now. We are very lucky to live in a County that tries hard to bring its citizens into the planning process. Take advantage of it and follow the link to the survay, if not for me, do it for you and your own future living here. It only takes a few minutes to participate. Every single vote matters.
